Editorial take
Why it stands out
Build a spreadsheet: messages, GB attachments, dedicated IP count, and VDM on/off. EC2 egress is easy to forget. Compare Postmark and Resend when deliverability tooling matters more than raw $/email.
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Tool profile
Cloud email service for transactional and bulk sending with API control and strong AWS integration.
Product email at scale (receipts, alerts, lifecycle)
Amazon SES is AWS’s send-and-receive email pipe: SMTP/API sending, inbound processing, optional dedicated IPs, Virtual Deliverability Manager, and Mail Manager add-ons.
aws.amazon.com/ses/pricing (March 2026) is purely metered—no subscription minimum. Core anchors: ~$0.10 per 1,000 outbound emails plus $0.12 per GB of attachment payload; ~$0.10 per 1,000 inbound messages with chunk-based charges for ingestion. Global endpoints add ~$0.03 per 1,000 on top of base send price when used. Dedicated IPs (standard) list ~$24.95/month per IP; managed dedicated IPs use a ~$15/month/account fee plus tiered per-thousand send rates on the public table. Virtual Deliverability Manager adds ~$0.07 per 1,000 sends at lower volumes with volume discounts at scale.
The SES free tier includes up to 3,000 message charges/month for the first 12 months after you begin using SES (inbound + outbound + VDM processing count toward “message charges” per AWS copy). New AWS accounts may also receive broader credits—read AWS Free Tier pages for your signup date.
You still pay data transfer, S3/SNS/Lambda if you wire those in, and any Mail Manager ingress endpoints (~$50/month per open ingress endpoint on the published table).
Quick fit
Editorial take
Build a spreadsheet: messages, GB attachments, dedicated IP count, and VDM on/off. EC2 egress is easy to forget. Compare Postmark and Resend when deliverability tooling matters more than raw $/email.
What it does well
Primary use cases
Fit notes
Compare with
Pressure-test this pick against nearby alternatives.
Pricing snapshot
Amazon SES pricing is usage-based rather than seat-based. The public pricing page lists outbound email at $0.10 per 1,000 emails plus $0.12 per GB of attachments, inbound email at $0.10 per 1,000 emails plus chunk charges for data processing, and a 12-month AWS Free Tier benefit covering up to 3,000 message charges per month. Dedicated IPs are sold separately, with Standard dedicated IPs at $24.95 per month and managed dedicated IP options starting around $15 per month plus send-volume charges.
Agora
Free planRealtime voice, video, and livestreaming in customer-facing applications
Realtime engagement platform for voice, video, chat, signaling, and AI conversation features with broad usage-based pricing.
Choose Agora when platform breadth across realtime products matters more than open-source control.
